Volkswagen Outpaces Toyota to Become World's Top Selling Automaker in 2016

Volkswagen AG has emerged as the world’s top-selling automaker for the first time in four years following rival Toyota’s announcement on Monday that its 2016 sales lagged behind those of the Wolfsburg-based company.

Toyota registered global deliveries of 10.18 million vehicles across its Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino Motors Ltd brands in 2016, up 0.2 percent over 2015. The Japanese company indicated that domestic sales of its namesake brand rose 5.5 percent for the year on the strength of launches of new models including the Prius. Overseas, sales dropped 0.6 on declining demand in North America, the Middle East and Africa.

For its part, Volkswagen registered sales of 10.3 million vehicles, a record high despite the lingering effects of its diesel emissions scandal.